THE PUNGENT DEBATE Podcast
Buongiorno amici:
Because it is a debate, I’ll begin by saying that I am not against garlic but the excessive use. Garlic is a crucial ingredient in many cuisines, including Italian. However, it can become too “aggressive,” invading dishes with its aroma and flavor, until it becomes unpleasant. In a clearer perspective, garlic’s unbalanced use can be the single most significant cause of failure in would-be Italian cooking. READ FULL TRANSCRIPT HERE
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HOW TO MAKE PARDULAS
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Without a doubt, some selected as a symbol of Sardinia, Pardulas is a delicious explosion of contrasting tastes. Their goodness and fragrance have crossed both regional and national borders, a confectionery product appreciated worldwide and part of the PAT (Traditional Sardinian Agri-food Products).
The Sardinian island’s ancient identity is also expressed through these sweets, baked over the centuries by the
“druccere” teachers’ meticulous work. They continue to share with us these natural treasures to delight the palate. And in the ancient Sardinian tradition, dinner cannot mark its epilogue if the Pardulas do not appear on the dessert table. The complexity of this dessert varies in different elaborations according to Sardinia’s area where produced. Pardule or Pardulas with Arrescottu if you are in the Campidano area, with fresh ricotta as a base. In the Sassari territory they become Formaggelle or Casadinas.
INDIAN PUDDING RESURGENCE
In the 70s, you could find Indian pudding in many of the diners and restaurants in New England. Somehow with the introduction of newer and eclectic desserts, the pudding slowly lost the appeal. The British occupation was responsible for the novelty. The Brits seemed to enjoy something similar called “hasty pudding,” a concoction of wheat flour with milk or water cooked until it thickened. When wheat became scarce in New England, the early settlers began using cornmeal to substitute the grain. Hence the name of Indian pudding because the natives widely used cornmeal at the time.
Read the full transcript HERE.
POLPETTE PALERMITANE
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Polpetta is “meatball” for Italians. This Sicilian rendition is packed with flavors and exotic aromas reminiscing of the Arab invasion.
Buongiorno amici:
Deliciously soft and inviting, the polpette from Palermo is a homemade dish popular enough that, despite time, will never go out of fashion. The ingredients that make them genuinely fantastic are the milk and bread crumb, which provides that unmistakable softness that characterizes them. Also, the pine nuts and raisins make them tempting because of their aromaticity. Preparing them is simple, undoubtedly laborious, but the result will pay off for the invested time. Let’s get our ingredients and make the polpette following the recipe step by step.
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You can taste “arrosticini” in all of the four Abruzzo provinces. Hard-to-pronounce and equally hard to resist. Let’s make them with Pasqualino.
Buongiorno amici:
Pasqualino and Anna Maria Di Giorgio have been married for a long time, happy couple with grandchildren living in my hometown of Mosciano Sant’Angelo in Abruzzo, Italy. Anna Maria is an excellent cook, and I am always intrigued by her traditional recipes and pics.
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“compagno di vita” Pasqualino ranks among the finest arrosticini maker. During one of my
cooking tours, I invited him to show off his magic to a group of Americans who had never seen the procedures and the steps that make the dish so unusually simple. Still, as in all Italian traditional regional cooking, the quality takes precedents over everything else. Cooking is a serious business.